Young House Love

DIY Home Decorating Projects, Tutorials, & Shenanigans

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Making Simple Burlap-ish Fabric Art Mats

Since lots of folks have asked for close up photos and more of an explanation about our little art switcheroo above the sofa, here it is. It’s such an easy project that anyone can do (probably for under $5 if you have the frames and some small photos or prints that you love (images from greeting cards or postcards could even work). So we figured we’d share the goods while we work on our backsplash (those goods will be up tomorrow am!).

Our frames above the sofa started out with colorful paper in them ($5 worth of craft paper from Michael’s to be exact). That added some fun oomph for a while, but the beauty of that $5 price tag was the freedom to switch things around and just sort of go with the flow. So they sat as plain blocks of color for a while…

… and then we added some fun local art prints (just taped in the middle of our colored paper)…

… but after our new rug arrived we were jonesing for something less colorful (since we had amassed a ton of colorful pillows and some bright accessories like the ceramic hurricanes on the desk). We also decided we could use some more texture, so that somehow triggered me to look in my fabric scrap bin and realize that I had enough burlap-ish textured linen-ish stuff to do the trick.

Sorry for that terrible description. It’s just a sand-colored fabric that sort of looks like linen or burlap (you know, it has those crosshatched lines running through it) that I got on super clearance from JoAnn fabrics a while back – so I don’t think it’s actually real linen and it’s a bit too soft to be burlap.

Here’s my completely not scientific framing method. I just:

  • unstuck my little art squares that had been taped to the colorful fabric with a loop of tape
  • used the same loop of tape to stick them to the center of the eight 12″ x 12″ fabric squares for each frame
  • taped the fabric to the back of the frame’s mat on all sides (to keep it from looking saggy and wiggly)
  • regular old scotch tape worked for that part, but if you have heavier fabric, something stronger like duct tape might be better

That’s it! Oh and these are Ikea’s ribba frames (with 12 x 12″ openings) if that helps. I love that my tiny polariod-ish prints make you look closer, and when you do, you see the texture in the fabric behind them. It’s really sweet, especially in person. I keep glancing over at them when I sit on the sofa.

Sometimes Burger takes John-sprawled-out-on-the-ottoman-taking-photos-of-the-art to mean that he’s supposed to sit on him. Naturally. So we took more photos and shared them over on Young House Life. Naturally.

Anyway, so the art thing was a free swap and I’ve been using the colored paper that I took out for other projects around the house – like John’s boyscout badge Christmas present.

Oh and since a few folks also requested an open-ottoman shot to see how it’s all organized in there, here ya go:

The big woven basket is my paint chip bin (yes I keep various paint decks in there and even save loose paint chips so I can later do weird things like make art or ornaments with them). The other three baskets are for various Clara toys. There’s also a giant blanket in there (it can actually stretch across the entire monster of a sectional that we have and cover me in one corner and John in the other corner, which makes me crazyhappy). It’s just a king sized blanket I found at HomeGoods a while back for 25 bucks.

So there you have it – two living room goings-on. What have you guys been framing lately? Any fabric “mats” or backgrounds? What about fabric as art? That’s always fun too! Any ottoman organization? We learned really fast that tossing things in without smaller bins and baskets = chaos. Like a small tornado hit ottoman-ville every time we cracked it open. So apparently it’s all about sub-containment inside of larger containment devices. Lesson learned.

Psst- A reader (thanks Caroline!) sent along the link to this article about why people seem to be “wired” with the desire to DIY things, and it’s so interesting! The “add one egg” thing is especially amazing to me.

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Comments

  2. I’ve been so inspired by all your wall are that I’ve chosen to personalize all the art in my apartment.I’ve used old family photos, scrapbook paper, photos, cork, postcards – even writing a quote in sharpie on the glass. Last week I enlisted the help of my crafty bff & made a large piece (48″x28″) for above the sofa with fabric bought on clearance and canvas stretcher bars. The total project was $35 that included an investment in a staple gun. There’s also quite a bit of fabric left for another project. Win!
    Thanks for all your tips & continuing to share your lovely story.

    Reply

  4. We recently took down our “wedding shrine” (http://thisnestisbest.com/2011/06/09/i-won/) to make way for a Hot Chocolate and Coffee Dessert table backdrop (http://thisnestisbest.com/2011/12/05/holiday-hot-chocolate-coffee-bar/) and then a Mad Men bar – we have yet to figure out what to do with this wall in our dining room since the removal of the wedding shrine…okay, really the whole room has been a thorn in my side! Gosh darn dining room!

    But, I digress…my real point was that I was recently framing vintage ads for a Mad Men party and several of those are still hanging around the house – I kind of love them and some might stick around more long term!

    Reply

  7. I’m loving the burlap behind the images. I so love texture.
    I’m also considering taking my husband’s badges off his Eagle Scout bage and framing them in a similar manner.

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  8. Thanks for sharing! Such awesome timing for me as I recently received four 5×5 photos for Christmas (here they are from Etsy seller, EyePoetryPhotograpy – http://www.etsy.com/listing/69838901/butterfly-photos-nature-photography) that I want to frame in our bathroom but didn’t know where I could get big, matted frames with 5×5 openings – now I realize maybe I don’t need to! I can just buy the Ikea ones and do something similar to what you did :)

    Reply

  9. I haven’t read your blog for very long, so maybe you’ve talked about this before, but I love the idea of the long skinny table behind the couch! It is so functional and practical but also adds some nice depth to display beautiful objects. You are an inspiration, as always :)

    Reply

    • Gotta bring back budget blooms for sure! John and I were just saying that in the car! Haha, we fell off. We did share lots of details about how we decorated the house for the holidays last month and shared things like how I made blackout curtains for C’s room last week along with some DIYed holiday gift details (between bigger projects like painted cabinets and play-kitchen details!). I think as anyone in the middle of a kitchen reno can attest, sometimes things like flowers take a backseat! Haha. But we can’t wait to bring them back!

      xo,
      s

  12. How do you mat all of your artwork, paper, etc. in the white frames? Any tips, or a link to where it’s been mentioned? Thanks!

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  14. Hi! I’m a newer reader – so I’m sure this was talked about at one point. But I’m in love with your ottoman!! Where did you find it?!

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  15. I kind of sort of LOVE the new art! I even love your super-scientific method of tape loops. That makes it so that you can change it out on a whim easily, which is fantastic.

    You’ve also made me feel the need to run out and find a bunch of baskets/boxes at Goodwill and the like to better organize our ottomans. I smell a project coming on…

    xoxo Linda

    Reply

  16. I seriously need to organize our storage ottomans. It’s beyond embarrassing. The new art is so sweet and I am CONSTANTLY changing the art around here. Last week, I finally finished a huge unfinished painting ( I literally slapped paint on a canvas) that has been hanging in our dining room for months. And I documented the fun I had in the interim.

    http://chrislovesjulia.blogspot.com/2012/01/painting-process.html

    Sherry, it would be so fun to live closer and have like, one day a month to just paint together. Not walls. Art! Right?

    Reply

  17. I’m slowly building my first “art wall” with some ideas from your site – first and foremost, your cork-backed vintage map idea. Since I just moved halfway across the country from Nebraska to California, it makes it easy to point out where I come from when visitors drop by (sadly, many Californians seem to have no clue where Nebraska is on the map!) plus I can remember all the places I’ve visited over the years.

    Reply

  18. Nice article you linked to. Very interesting. However, the “IKEA effect” has a different meaning in our house. I think assembling IKEA furniture is like your very own marital enrichment course; it’s its own exercise in commitment, communication and conflict. There are few other tasks that can get my husband and I at each other like cats and dogs! But oh, that sense of pride and completion when it’s all said and done…..very worth it indeed. :)

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  19. I have a blanket like that from Wal-Mart (don’t tell), and I love it. It’s huge and cozy. I’m tall, so one of my pet peeves is a blanket that doesn’t reach from my neck to below my feet. I even let my husband share it with me, that’s how huge it is.
    Your corralling method for the ottoman is like mine for the bathroom. Organized chaos.

    Reply

  20. Where did the Missoni vase end up? I haven’t seen it in a while….

    And on a semi-related note, what’s your strategy for storing/using all of the things you buy over time that don’t immediately make up onto walls, etc.? I was wondering as I looked at the February recap that included the resin ram, wooden goose, and the 23 things for 98 bucks. Do you have a new decor store? I suspect that’s the playroom for now, but longer term?

    Sorry to ask so many questions today. I’m just so curious (and struggling with how to deal with similar stuff-age at my house).

    Reply

    • Hmm, I think that’s on the built-ins in the dining room! Will have to do a video house tour for the update of where accessories have jumped around! As for the stuff from the Feb recap post, those items are all in our chaotic and insane playroom! We have to get a handle on that stuff and just yard sale what we don’t want and paint/hang/use stuff that we do! I’ll keep you posted!

      xo,
      s

  21. Very nice! I likey! Especially since your coach has so much color on it these days. I really like how your house/rooms/projects/artwall/etc are living spaces. I like that you don’t just give it the stamp of “DONE” and move on, never to look back, like so many other people. It is quite the inspiration. Thanks!

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  26. Love it! Thanks for the living room update! I hadn’t noticed them before, but I’m IN LOVE with the colorful hurricane vases on the living room desk! Where’d you pick up those beauties?

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  27. I love the hurricanes on the desk, where did you find them?

    It’s my first time commenting but I read your blog every day and love everything you do. I wish you still lived in Astoria so you could help me out lol.

    Reply

  28. I love swapping art around. Its an easy way to freshen up a space without spending too much money. Unless, of course, you’re buying new art.

    Reply

    • We basically have a basket system going on (in each room we have a giant brown basket, which you can usually see in a number of our House Tour pics). Into the basket go all of her toys at the end of the day or before guests come over. Otherwise they’re usually everywhere and she’s playing with all of them! Haha.

      xo,
      s

  34. You inspired my frames… I bought similar white square shadowboxes at Ikea and filled them will different printed scrapbook pages in the same colors as my furniture and accessories. It was easy to add a punch of color in a way that wasn’t scary! We also decided to “go nuts” and hang the squares on the diagonal which is kinda cool.

    Now I’m trying to figure out what if anything i need to do with the huge blank spot above my TV! Can’t figure out if I’m going nuts covering all the wall or if it really is as awkward as it looks to me!

    Reply

  35. I just put up some art this weekend in my office, which has been entirely artless since I painted it. In fact, most of my house is artless which is kind of sad and womp womp. This made me happy though. I purposely liked everything not lined up. I posted about it here. Since obviously hanging up two frames requires a blog post. My grandma read it and goes, “sweetheart, those aren’t new hangers, I’ve been using them since before you were born.” bahah.

    Me = Lame.

    I’ll have a better post up soon. Andy is almost done with our shaker style walnut tables and as of this morning a saw mill was out back sawing our trees into lumber for our roof sheathing of the addition.

    Reply

  37. I just finished framing a giant photo collage. Every year our kids take the exact same photo at Christmas with Grandpa. I’m not sure how it all started as it’s a silly pic but it has stuck for about 15 years. This year I pulled out all those pics and matted them and framed them in one huge frame that I displayed at Christmas. Grandpa got one too and loves it!!!! It’s fun to look back and remember all those fun times and see how much everyone has changed and how it went from 1 kid in the pic to 3 kids in the pic.

    Reply

    • Aw thanks Ruthy! It’s sort of a family blog where we dish about life (mostly baby and dog stuff). And sometimes behind the scenes YHL stuff gets in there (like photoshoot outtakes, etc).

      xo,
      s

  39. I am really loving these “little” posts in between the kitchen ones. I am very excited to see the kitchen when its done, but I also know that you like to do smaller projects after you finish a huge one. So I am looking forward to the projects that happen in the after-glow of the kitchen.

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  41. Dear John and Sherry greetings and a very happy and healthful new year to your little family from Montreal Canada!
    Love your new art switch, each litlle picture truly draws you in does’nt it?
    Great shot of that little tyke Burger! How is baby Clara today? My gals have been surfing your way almost everyday to see how she is making out and check out her wardrobe, such a cutie! I am waiting for your finished kitchen pics, love the penny tiles,if we can catch our breath after all the craziness of the holidays, we may just go for a new kitchen this Spring, ours is about 60 years old, time for a face lift.

    Reply

  42. Do you have the frames set up as shadow boxes or is the glass directly on the mat and print? If it’s set up like a shadow box – HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!?! I’m forever perplexed on how to do this using those Ikea frames…

    Reply

    • Haha, the little “spacer” for lack of a better word comes out. So see the thick rectangle that is parallel to the frame (you have to take off the back to see it)- that thing comes out and you can put it between the mat and the glass to create that space!

      xo,
      s

  43. someone may have already commented this, but it sounds like your fabric is unbleached cotton, also called osnaburg! i get mine super cheap (like $2 a yard!) from walmart of all places & use it for EVERYthing. it’s like burlap but less stinky & more flexible & easier to sew. love it! just thought that might help for future reference if you love it too :)

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  44. I love the way you guys have such a unique way of hanging pictures. I feel like most folks would have hung one, maybe two frames in that area. But you hung 8, identically sized frames in a perfect array. The math nerd in me likes it a lot.

    Reply

  45. I like the burlap so much! (Not that I didn’t like the colors, just like the burlap better.)

    Although honestly, you shouldn’t care what I think anyway, my walls are still all white after five years and I actually had a giant beanbag chair instead of a loveseat for like two years. (NOT my decision, I think it made my husband feel like he was still in college.)

    Come to think of it though, the beanbag chair cover I forced him to get was burlap-colored.

    Turns out I have excellent taste.

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  46. Hi Sherry, just a random question. I have recently purchased some of those white sheepskin throws from ikea and was just wondering if you have ever washed yours or how you get them clean. As mine are new they look lovely at the moment but taht will probably last two seconds in my crazy family home lol, i know you have had yours a while how can i keep them looking lovely any ideas? BTW love, love, love your blog and you have given me many ideas for my own home thank you x

    Reply

    • Thank you i’ll give it a go! keep up the good work you guys, you have a lovely family and home, I read your blog each night before bed and it inspires me so much x

  47. Love the change. Changing up the wall decor really is satisfying…..you really start looking at what is on the walls again. I like the texture idea. Thank you for showing the inside of the ottoman. I have a long narrow one in my tv room and have done something fairly similar but using baskets and rubbermaid containers that have lost their tops. This enables me to put in and take out just one group of items. Somehow it seems that I have more toys for my grandchildren who visit on weekends than I did for my kids when they lived with me full time. Does that mean I spoil them? Anyway, gives me a stash. How did you get your paint chip decks? Did you buy them?

    Reply

    • Yup, I bought them. I used to do these little paint color dilemma things for readers (who would write in with paint requests and for a small fee I’d recommend a scheme for them) so I got them for that. They still come in handy a lot for our own house stuff!

      xo,
      s

  48. I just recovered my dining room chairs – does that count?

    I followed the jaw-droppingly “of COURSE!!” advice from Mr Nate B and used a fabric that is cheap, colourful and funky, wipe-downable (essential with two little boys in the house) and easy to get hold of = Shower curtains!

    My chairs went from a grubby cream to a funky white, blue and taupe stripe. They were sort of daggy before but now they rock. And I can even wipe tomato sauce straight off!!

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    • What a great idea. I must have missed that episode……I have to recover my extra chairs which I use for big family gatherings…..currently kinda grotty from grandchildren’s dropped food. This is a great idea……

  49. I love this! Beautiful idea that I just might try for over our mantle in our bedroom, where I hate the pics we have up!

    But my real question is, is that the Ikea sofa? The ‘Karl’ you wrote about last year? I’m newish to the blog so didn’t see that post. I’m trying hard to convince my husband that it’s time for a new sofa – we have a Mitchell Gold that for all it’s worth is not comfortable (I think I screwed up getting down in the back pillows but not in the bottom pillow), and it’s a low profile so it feels like there’s no back support. Especially for a tall, long torso’d gal like myself.

    So – is your sofa comfortable? Every time I sit on a sofa at Ikea it feels hard. Can you lean back and read or does it not support your neck? Are you happy with it? Also, the link you gave has arms on both sides – did you have to adjust anything to have the chaise on one side?

    Thank you!!

    Reply

    • Yup, that’s Karl! Still very happy with him! We hunker down every night and work away into the early morning on the sofa, so nothing feels hard or leaves us stiff! We just got the corner sofa plus the add-on chaise and it came this way to be assembled (the chaise could be added to either side). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  50. I have been framing….! I went into the framing store, and got three frames, two off the shelf matt boards, and then ordered one custom matt and got one canvas stretched. So proud to get all my travelling art/photos up in my new pad! But of course I want to paint before I hang them, so I’m just leaning them against the wall now… le sigh

    Reply

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